The last few months have been torture for Atlanta Braves fans and players alike. A sweep by the Brewers, which now puts the Braves out of the playoffs and was capitalized by a 16-7 throttling on Thursday highlights a low point in a fastly deteriorating season for Atlanta's baseball club.
After that thrashing, the team traveled out West to begin a 10-game road trip. The first stop on that trip was in Colorado and despite their best effort, the Braves dropped the first game of that series with a 6-5 final.
#Braves hitters have 67 strikeouts during the six-game losing streak, MLB's highest per game average in the past week.
— David O'Brien (@DOBrienATL) August 10, 2024
Braves pitchers have an 8.49 ERA, 2.17 WHIP, .346 opponents' average and 34 walks issued during the six-game skid, all MLB-worsts in the past week.
But after that doom and gloom, let's try and look on the bright side. They are still 60-55, five games above .500, which comparatively is much better than what they were doing at this time in 2021 before they won the franchise's third World Series title.
Now, the competition in the NL East and the NL at large was much less menacing back then, but that's neither here nor there. A seventh-straight NL East title with the Phillies keeping their distance (the Braves are 8.5 games back as of August 9th) is seeming more and more unlikely by the day. However, a wildcard spot is just half a game away currently and is still attainable. With this roster as banged up as it is, that should still be expected.
But now as the season races towards its end in less than two months, several series are going to be pushed to the forefront. Here are three of the most vital:
3 upcoming series that could make or break the Braves season
August 29th series at Philadelphia
I know I just said that the division title is probably unlikely, but with seven games remaining against the Phillies, if the team has any prayer of contending for the division title in September, a big four-game series in Philadelphia will be key.
Luckily for the Braves (and for the surprisingly surging Mets), the Phillies aren't exactly running away with the NL East. Sure, thanks to the Braves sputtering they are still 8.5 games up, but they have the same record in the last 10 games that the Braves do at 4-6. A surge from Atlanta here soon and more backsliding by the Phillies could make this series a huge turning point. Especially if the Braves can take at least two games from them at Truist in a three-game slate starting August 20.
It would also mean wins against an obvious NL pennant and World Series contender, shaping the Braves up for a hopefully deep postseason run.
September 13th home series against the Dodgers
Speaking of getting wins against World Series contenders, the Braves have four games left against the team with the NL's second-best record, on September 14th with just 12 games left on their schedule after its conclusion.
Not only would this series mean going up against another playoff contender, but it could also mean a make-or-break situation for the Braves' playoff hopes depending on how the next month goes. In a perfect world, they are pushing the Phillies for the division at this time and a series win could mean more ground made up, whilst a loss could make us start to focus solely on the wildcard.
Unfortunately at this point, it seems like the worst-case scenario is more likely, where a disaster of a series against L.A. could put the Braves on the outside looking in for the playoffs with the season at the final turn.
Even in a situation where the Braves have gained ground back in the wildcard, and solidified themselves, a disaster here could make things dicey again. No matter which way you look at it, this one is going to be a big tell for what October is going to look like.
September 24th home series against the Mets
The second-to-last series of the season comes against surging Mets, who, as of August 9, sits a half-game above the Braves in the wildcard race. What a sick world we are living in.
The Mets have won six of their last 10 games and ever since a dismal start to the season, have been playing playoff-level baseball, which is why they find themselves sitting where they are. If the Braves are in a tight race for the wildcard, there's a good chance it's with the Mets which makes why this series is included, easy to explain.
Any series with another wildcard competitor, and a heated division rival at that, is always going to be one to look forward to and one that could tell the story of the Braves season in a few fall days. 2024 hasn't gone how Atlanta hoped it would and things are going to be a bit tougher than expected.